I Had Chinese Food Yesterday In Leitchfield Kentucky; Kentucky Speaker Of The House, Greg Stumbo, Is Off To China On Trade Mission.

House Speaker Stumbo to represent
KY in major trade mission to China

Frankfort – House Speaker Greg Stumbo and a select group of legislative leaders from more than 30 other states will travel to China in November for the first-ever “Sino-US Provincial Legislative Leaders Forum.”
“I’m excited about discussing a number of trade issues,” said Speaker Stumbo, who will represent Kentucky. “According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Kentucky’s exports to China have grown more than 800 percent since 2000, and now total more than $600 million a year. While these numbers are impressive, there is significant room for growth. This trade mission will help us build on those gains and see what more the General Assembly can do. One area in particular I want to explore is expanding markets for Kentucky coal.”
With that in mind, Speaker Stumbo is asking members of the Kentucky Coal Association to provide him with information about opportunities in Eastern and Western Kentucky that he could share with Chinese business leaders and government officials.
The meeting, which will be held from Nov. 10th-15th and has been two years in the making, is being hosted by the China Association for International Friendly Contact and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF), which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works with an estimated 350 House and Senate leaders nationwide. Speaker Stumbo is one of 54 state legislators scheduled to attend, with 11 serving either as House Speaker or Senate President.
In a letter to those invited, the president of SLLF wrote, “This will be an historic program, bringing together U.S. state legislative leaders and business leaders from across America with high-ranking Chinese business and political leaders to discuss issues of mutual interest and expand opportunities for trade and investment.”
As a sponsor of the event, SLLF is covering the cost of air fare, lodging and meals.